HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistorical Records - Miscellaneous (86) TO: Citizens of the Town of Oro Valley
FROM: E._S . Engle, Ja-rrres----la:—K-r-i-eg-h-7-R-oya+-Botis-elliar,--E-crurerr-AT-Rftcrd-e-7--and
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DATE: August 5, 1974
On August 14, there will be an election held to elect five members to the :Town
Council . Who should you vote for'? ---- That is a decision only you can make
based on your intelligent analysis of the issues. In an open letter ofT1174,
Virgil B. brandon has said:
" . . . The small power hungry clique which has imposed an
unwelcome, irrational and expensive incorporated township. . . "
We ask you, is the above an intelligent discussion of the issues? It appears to us
that Mr. Brandon is resorting to name calling for lack of adequate grounds to oppose
the Town. Those citizens who led the drive for incorporation did so based on a
petition signed by two-thirds of the residents of the area. The validity of the in-
corporation drive was challenged in the courts and was upheld by the Arizona Supreme
Court. Is it then fair of Mr. Brandon to say that a clique imposed township upon
an unwilling group? Is Mr. Brandon the type of council member the Town should
have?
We and others support incorporation because we believe:
1 . That having local people govern our area is preferable to being governed by
the Pima County Board of Supervisors who may have less interest in the
wishes of the residents of this area.
2. That the Town of Oro Valley can function without the necessity of raising
real estate taxes.
None of us can guarantee that these goals can be fulfilled. But we sincerely believe
the Town will be beneficial to its citizens and we are dedicated to make the Town
successful .
Zoning was the issue that provoked the desire to incorporate. A number of citizens
have appeared numerous times before the Board of Supervisors to oppose zoning
requests that would be detrimental to the area. We consider that it would be
beneficial to have zoning in our area controlled exclusively by people elected
from this community. By being incorporated, we expect that we can, through rood
planning and zoning, preserve the Township as an attractive residential community
with moderate density. This is preferable to allowing the area to become a
haphazard, congested mixture of houses, apartments, mobile home parks, laundromats,
hamburger stands and industrial facilities. Good zoning can enhance our area and
your property values. Poor zoning can erode the quality of our area. Do you want
local residents to control zoning here? Or should we let the Board of Supervisors
decide for us? You can answer these questions through your vote on August 14.
One of the issues that concerns most residents is police protection. This subject was
debated at considerable length by the council members and by residents at a town
council meeting last June. One indisputable fact brought out was that the Pima
County Sheriff's Department is required by law to provide our area with police
protection. That is, you' can still call the Sheriff's office if you need police
assistant or investigation. The Town is required, however, to provide police
patrol service.
At the council meeiing, council members \/:rqi1 Brandon and Dorothy Montgomery
together with Mayor Holford advocated that ;he Town contract with the Sheriff's
Department to provide the same amount of paftol service as before, at an annual
cost of $35,255 to the Town„ Council members Engle and Kreigh questioned the
cost. The $35,255 figure viols based on the Sheriff Department's estimate that
they spend six hours per day (or two hours per each shift) patrolling the streets
in our town. As it takes less than two hours to cover every street in Oro Valley,
it would mean that there are at least three patrols of every street every day in
our town. Do you believe that we have been getting this much patrol service?
Because Engle and Kreigh had some doubts, they suggested that the Town agree
to pay the $35,255 only if the Sheriff's Department could substantiate their estimate
of patrol service and that if we were getting less service, we should pay less.
This suggestion was rejected by Brandon and Montgomery who advocate "good
government at reasonable cost".
At the meeting, there were some residents who suggested that even six hours of
patrol service per day was not enough. Obviously, these people support incorporation.
Before incorporation, they had little or no voice in determining how much patrol
service we could get in this area. Only by the continuation of the Town can we
determine what level of patrol service we want for our community.
In his letter of July 24, Mr. Brandon states that "Best estimates indicate that the
expense of running the Town will exceed income by $38,000 . . . " Do you believe
this'? Did you believe his estimate last March that expenses would exceed income
by $100,000? (Reference: undated, open letter distributed last March.) In the
public meeting on March 31 , called by Mr. Brandon, he stated that police services
would cost of S65,000, not S35,000. Also, he said we would have to hire a
professional Town Manager at a cost of at least $10,000 annually. Do you believe
that we need a full-time Town Manager? Which of Mr. Brandon's estimates do
you accept as being valid? In view of this, is it any wonder that Mr. Brandon now
resorts to name calling?
There is one final question you should consider. Should the Town be governed by
those who are dedicated to making the Town successful or by those who are dedicated
to aborting the Town?
We understand that Robert E. Hansen has disassociated himself from Mr. Brandon's
letter of July 24, because of the tone of the letter. Although we disagree with Bob,
we do respect him and his views.
If you have signed the petition for disincorporation and have changed your mind,
please call one of the people listed below. They will ask you to sign a letter
indicating the withdrawal of your name from the petition. This letter will not be
used unless it becomes necessary. In the meantime, you name will not be disclosed.
E. S . Engle 297-2351
James D. I<-.iegh 297-2369
Lauren Rhude 297-4703
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